In wake of widespread criticism, former royals stay away from Temple Entry anniversary

Thiruvananthapuram: Members of the erstwhile Travancore royal family on Monday (November 13) stayed away from the event to mark the 87th anniversary of the Temple Entry Proclamation. 

The event, organised at the headquarters of the Travancore Devaswom Board in Thiruvananthapuram, involved the dedication of the refurbished larger-than-life statue of the last Travancore King Chithira Tirunal Balarama Varma. The absence of the former royals assumed significance because a notice announcing the event presented the Temple Entry Proclamation as a favour done by the last Travancore king and had addressed the former king's nieces, Aswathy Tirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi and Pooyam Tirunal Gowri Parvathy Bayi, as queens. The sisters were supposed to be the chief guests at the function.

The notice, which had given rise to both wrath and ridicule in social media, was quickly withdrawn by the TDB. The TDB president K Anantha Gopan had also distanced himself from the notice prepared by the Board’s director B Madhusoodanan Nair. 

Devaswom minister K Radhakrishnan sounded bitter. "You cannot root out casteist notions that have solidified in the minds of people over centuries. Even modern technology could not beat the cunning of people who had injected such ideas in people," the minister said.

After unveiling the Temple Entry Declaration memorial on Monday, the TDB president seemed eager to convey that it was not out of any misplaced respect that the former royals were invited. "When the renovated statue of Chithira Tirunal Maharaja was being dedicated to the public, there was a general opinion that the members of the royal family should also be present. That's why they were invited," Anantha Gopan said. "However, they informed the Board that they could not attend the function. The reason given was that both are unwell," he said.

The TDB president also made it clear that the TDB director B Madhusoodanan Nair did not get the approval of the Board before sending out the invitation notice. "Usually such notices are issued with the consent of the Board but for this, the Board's consent was not sought," the TDB president said.

He said the issue would be discussed in the Board meeting on Monday. Nonetheless, Anantha Gopan said it was not clear whether this was done on purpose. "We have to ask him before we make an opinion," he said and added: "If we think there is a need, action will be taken."

Though the Temple Entry Proclamation was a revolutionary reform and was made by Chithira Tirunal, it was the result of the social awakening that was sweeping through Travancore. 

Historians like A Sreedhara Menon and Manu S Pillai have postulated that the Temple Entry Proclamation was a move designed to stop the flow of lower caste Hindus like Ezhavas to other religions. Fed up with the oppressions of the caste system and encouraged and emboldened by the reform movements, not only was there a large-scale migration to other religions but also a growing disdain for religious orthodoxy. If this unrest was not taken care of, these historians observe that the Hindu community would have existed in its present form.  

The 1931 census showed that the population of Hindus in Travancore had fallen to 62 percent from 70 percent in 1901.